Detentions across J&K linked to the terrorist killing of head constable Ashiq Hussain Qureshi rose to 3,500

SRINAGAR: Detentions across J&K linked to the terrorist killing of head constable Ashiq Hussain Qureshi rose to 3,500 Friday as police stepped up their crackdown on suspected sympathisers of armed groups.A senior police officer said around 700 people were detained for interrogation in Srinagar alone since the terror attack last Wednesday, in which Qureshi, who was on Amarnath Yatra duty at Lal Chowk in Anantnag, was killed. “Due process has been followed in all detentions,” he said.DGP Nalin Prabhat convened a meeting for a comprehensive security review in Srinagar, with participating officers presenting their assessments of the prevailing security scenario across the Union territory.“The meeting focused on the current operational environment, threat perception and preparedness of field formations,” a police spokesperson said. “The DGP directed the officers to intensify area domination and night domination, particularly in vulnerable urban areas.”Home minister Amit Shah had a phone conversation with the slain head constable’s son after J&K leader of the opposition Sunil Sharma visited the family at their residence in Lalpora Beerwah of Budgam. Lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha, too, made a trip earlier and assured the bereaved family of the administration’s support.CM Omar Abdullah was critical of the detentions and Thursday’s controlled explosions targeting the family homes of two wanted Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists. “I understand the police’s anger. But there is a Supreme Court order that such summary action should not be taken,” he said.Recalling his first stint as CM when J&K was a state, Omar said he knew “at the time that this problem (terrorism) cannot be resolved without the people’s support”.He said the backlash against terrorist outfits after last year’s attack on tourists in Pahalgam showed that ordinary people do not support them. “Even today, people are angry that a police head constable has been killed so brutally. But when the number of arrests rises from hundreds to 2,000 or 2,500, that public anger risks being redirected against us,” he said. “I hope we take our people along with us in this fight.”Ex-CM and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti said detaining thousands and demolishing the family homes of two “alleged” terrorists “amounts to collective punishment that has no place in a democracy”. People’s Conference chairperson Sajad Lone warned that the police’s response to one of their own being killed by terrorists would “do more harm”.